The pig iron market in the United States was under pressure from lower prices for high-phosphorous material from Brazil, while supplies of low-phosphorous material continued to be restricted, Fastmarkets heard on Friday May 3."The only thing really dragging pig iron [prices] down is the weak domestic [pig iron] market in Brazil and the lack of markets for high phosphorous material," one buyer in t...Read More
Global ferrous scrap prices trended downward in the week ended Friday May 3 due to low demand and high inventories held by steel mills.There was mixed sentiment about spot price trends. While most market participants expected a continued softening of prices, others expected prices to become firmer once holidays in Europe, Turkey, Japan and China came to an end. Weak steel markets in Turkey damp de...Read More
Austenitic alloy steel scrap prices in Europe went down in the week ended Friday May 3 because of further losses in the nickel market, Fastmarkets has heard.Fundamentals in the market were unchanged and were not exerting pressure on prices. While some traders reported slow supply, this was matched by demand. All sources said that the fundamentals were balanced.In the UK, Fastmarkets' assessment...Read More
The light iron market in the UK has dropped in the past week, with traders cutting their prices amid weaker European export markets, particularly into Turkey, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday May 3.Moreover, with European scrap export markets into Turkey set to get weaker in the near term, UK consumer monthly delivery settlements for May are likely to drop by a similar amount, they said.Fastmark...Read More
Latin American steel group Ternium expects sales of steel slab to continue rising in the second quarter of 2019, after an increase of 8.51% year on year in the first quarter.The company sold 880,000 tonnes of steel slab in the first three months of the year, compared with 811,000 tonnes a year before, it said on Thursday May 2."Our slab facility in [Brazil's] Rio de Janeiro state is doing well, an...Read More
Prices for grade-304 stainless steel cold-rolled (CR) sheets in Europe narrowed in the week ended Friday May 3 under the conflicting influences of higher alloy surcharges for May and lower nickel prices.The May surcharge for grade-304 CR sheets increased by ?,?20-23 per tonne to ?,?1,410-1,450 ($1,578-1,623) per tonne on April 26, despite falling nickel prices.Sources said earlier that, if nickel...Read More
UK long steel producer British Steel has been granted approval from a French court to take over troubled French special steelmaker Ascoval, the company said on Thursday May 2.Following the approval from the tribunal de grande instance (TGI) in Strasbourg, Ascoval, which is located in Saint-Saulve, Northern France, will officially become part of British Steel on Wednesday May 15 and will be renamed...Read More
Russia has criticized Mexico at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) for maintaining anti-dumping duties on Russian steel exports, which it claims are outdated, being based on pricing assessments using data from a different country.The Mexican government used this method for past dumping calculations on Russian steel because it is permitted under WTO rules where a government dominates an economy tha...Read More
UK long steel producer British Steel has been granted approval from a French court to take over troubled French special steelmaker Ascoval, the company said on Thursday May 2.Following the approval from the tribunal de grande instance (TGI) in Strasbourg, Ascoval, which is located in Saint-Saulve, Northern France, will officially become part of British Steel on Wednesday May 15 and will be renamed...Read More
While 2016 and 2017 each had a single, clear factor that drove up seaborne coking coal prices, this was a key feature that was missing last year, when the market continued to strengthen regardless.And if the first few months of 2019 are anything to go by, the seaborne coking coal market might have just reached a new level of complexity.When China decided to tackle overcapacity in its coal sector i...Read More
Fastmarkets MB has discontinued its weekly assessments of the Latin America export hot-dipped galvanized coil price, which was reported on a dollar-per-tonne fob main port basis, with effect from Friday May 3.Following a three-month consultation period, Fastmarkets MB received feedback that there is now limited spot liquidity in this market; producers stepped away from the export markets in 2...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More
Copper continued its sell-off on the London Metal Exchange on Thursday May 2, with the absence of Asian markets a key factor in the downturn while strength in the US dollar caps commodity investment. Volumes were moderately high, with more than 20,000 lots of copper changing hands by the close, indicating strong selling momentum. Open interest has fallen by 3,824 positions overnight, dipping below...Read More
Zinc bears are betting that the London Metal Exchange zinc price will fall to $2,500 per tonne in June, with massive orders for put options placed in recent weeks, Fastmarkets learned.Current open interest on the LME Select platform shows 5,125 lots of put options are active for the June declaration at a $2,500-per-tonne strike price, representing an equivalent of 128,125 tonnes of the metal. Opti...Read More
Comex copper prices sank further in morning trading on Thursday May 2 in the United States after a 3% selloff yesterday fueled by increased warehousing inflows, weak global data and a stronger dollar. The copper price for July settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 2.15 cents to $2.7810 per lb. "In line with our expectations, copper has come under downward p...Read More
Zinc bears are betting that the London Metal Exchange zinc price will fall to $2,500 per tonne in June, with massive orders for put options placed in recent weeks, Fastmarkets learned.Current open interest on the LME Select platform shows 5,125 lots of put options are active for the June declaration at a $2,500-per-tonne strike price, representing an equivalent of 128,125 tonnes of the metal. Opti...Read More
The Turkish deep-sea scrap import market remained quiet on Thursday May 2, with participants expecting lower prices following the sale of a cheaper billet cargo to Saudi Arabia, sources have told Fastmarkets.A steel mill in northern Turkey sold 40,000 tonnes of billet to Saudi Arabia at $425 per tonne fob, equivalent to $452 per tonne cfr, multiple sources reported on Thursday.Following news of th...Read More
Fastmarkets topped the base metals leaderboard in the Apex first-quarter 2019 contest, with an accuracy rating of 98.41%, while Edward Meir of INTL FCStone was top of the precious metals table with 97.45% accuracy.For steel raw materials, Casper Burgering from ABN Amro topped the leaderboard, with 91.16% accuracy.Click on the image below to download the full report.Second in the base metals leader...Read More
Australian conglomerate Wesfarmers bid $546 million on Thursday May 2 to acquire junior lithium spodumene producer Kidman Resources.Fellow Australian company Kidman is developing the Mount Holland asset in Western Australia to produce lithium spodumene concentrate in a 50:50 joint venture with Chilean lithium producer SQM. They are looking to build a lithium hydroxide plant with capacity for 45,50...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) moved downward in the south of Europe over the week to Thursday May 2 due to slow trading, sources have told Fastmarkets.And although domestic prices in Northern Europe have been stable, sentiment remained negative with buying activity still subdued, according to market participants.Southern EuropeIn Southern Europe, domestic prices have moved down and buy...Read More